Thursday, June 30, 2016

“The militia represents a useful tool in China’s plan to bloodlessly
press its maritime claims, since its frequently civilian appearance
allows Beijing to deny its involvement in encounters such as last
October’s and exploit the U.S. Navy’s rules of engagement”- Dr Andrew Erickson

Since the founding of the PLA in 1927 the militia has been an important instrument to the Chinese high command. This peasant guerrilla force served primarily as a PLA support in enhancing security in both the heartland and the border regions. Their contribution in various forms against all PLA’s enemies, foreign and domestic, was well-publicized inside of China. A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of the People’s Republic was essential especially in late 1960s to mid 1980s when the threat of an all out invasion by the Soviet Union was all consuming to China’s defense calculus.

Fast forward to today. As the PLA moves away from a general defensive all-out total war to a focused modernization effort on professionalism, and diverse forms of high tech warfare, it is easy to conclude that the militia is a relic from a bygone era. This is true in a certain respect, such as boarder security facing the Central and North Asia. The militia's is now replaced by the better armed and trained People’s Armed Police. However, in China’s “Near Sea” disputes with her neighbors, the maritime militia is an active participant -- they responsible in not only support the PLAN and the Coast Guard but other civilian agencies that have a stake in the dispute. They are present in several recent maritime incidents. Until recently, maritime militia’s missions and roles are not researched, but thanks for Dr Andrew Erickson and other academics at the US Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute, we now have a much clearer picture on their significant roles currently being playing out in the South China Sea.

Here is an example of Dr Erickson's many works, and fine introduction to this important topic:

IntroductionAn important component of China’s local
armed forces is the militia. It supports China’s armed forces in a
variety of functions, and is seeing expanded mission roles as the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to modernize. While the
maritime militia is not a new addition to China’s militia system, it is
receiving greater emphasis since China now aspires to become a great
maritime power and because maritime disputes in China’s near seas are a
growing concern.No official definition of the maritime
militia exists in the many sources the authors examined. However, in
late 2012 the Zhoushan garrison commander, Zeng Pengxiang, and the
garrison’s Mobilization Office described it concisely: “The Maritime
Militia is an irreplaceable mass armed organization not released from
production and a component of China’s ocean defense armed forces [that
enjoys] low sensitivity and great leeway in maritime rights protection
actions.”The only estimate of the size of the
maritime militia obtained during the course of this research was from a
source published in 1978, which put the number of personnel at 750,000
on approximately 140,000 craft. In its 2010 defense white paper, China
stated that it had 8 million primary militia members nationwide. The
maritime militia is a smaller unique subset since it performs many of
its missions at sea. However, an accurate number is not available. It is
important to note that the maritime militia is distinct from both
China’s coastal militia (shore based) and its naval reserve, although
some coastal militia units have been transformed into maritime militia
units.History of China’s maritime militia China’s militia system originated
before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power, but the system
of making numerous state-supported maritime militias out of the coastal
populations was not fully implemented until the Communists began to
exercise greater control of the coastline in the 1950s. This segment of
China’s population had been relatively isolated from events on land and
was subject to Japanese and Nationalist control in the decades before
CCP rule was established. The CCP targeted the fishing communities,
creating fishing collectives and work units, enacting strict
organizational control, and conducting political education.146 Factors
motivating and shaping this transformation included:

The PLA’s early use of civilian vessels

The need to prevent Nationalist Chinese (ROC) incursions along the coast

The need to man the maritime militia with fishermen, as there were too few other experienced mariners

Confrontations with other states’ fishing and naval vessels, due to the depletion of fishery resources.

The need to fish farther from shore, in contested waters.

The transformation from coastal defense militias to the at-sea maritime militia

Saturday, June 11, 2016

The 14th conducted a brigade size, live fire, amphibious assault drill
last week. No big deal, that is what they do. Besides, according to
United States Army war College's 2015 study "The Chinese People's
Liberation Army in 2025" (link here)

"Strategic sealift beyond Taiwan is quite limited. China has never
possessed a robust capability to transport and land troops under combat
conditions" (page 217)

First among these limitations is the capability to transport and sustain
more than one division of ground troops and equipment by sea or air,
according to the US DOD report to Congress on China's military [down
from three four decades earlier]. The PLA Navy’s total amphibious lift
capacity was estimated in 2009 to be one infantry division of
approximately 10,000 troops and equipment at one time.

Or as Patrick Tyler correctly pointed out in his NYT article (link here)

If China has learned anything in decades of conflict with Taiwan, it is
that an all-out invasion of Taiwan is well beyond its capabilities. The
joke commonly heard among Western military experts is that a Chinese
assault on Taiwan would have to be called ''the million man swim.''

To perform this historic "million man swim" the PLA could call up their
two Marine Brigades, two Amphibious Mech Infantry Divisions (the 1st of
the 1st Group Army, and the 124th of the 42nd Group Army) and every
unit of the 1st, 12th, 31st, 41st and 42nd Group Army of the East
Theater Command. No worries, they will be dressed up but with no boat
to go.

Here are the first publicly released photos of Type 093B Shang Class SSN, her new toys included vertically launched cruise missiles for both sea and land targets (the module right behind the conning tower) and the bulging flank sonars (red circles below)

Friday, June 24, 2016

On June 22nd, a task force from the 6th Landing Ship Flotilla conducted a "Blue vs Red" confrontation exercise. The task force was greeted by "Aircraft, missiles, submarines" of the bad guy "red army" upon arrival of an undisclosed area off South China Sea forcing it to launch the marine shore party under attack.

Here are their action photos. Please note that "Good Guy's" air cover and other supporting elements were removed from this PR set for OpSec reasons. I personally don't see what is the big deal.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

For both PLA and PAP. Yup, they are getting serious about those pesky terrorists on China's borderland

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Photos of the day: PLAN Marine anti-terror training pics

Saturday, January 02, 2016

Send In the PLAN Marine

Shortly after the passage of new law authorizing the PLA to conduct
counter-terrorism operations overseas, the PLAN marine now heads to
Xinjing for some baptism of fire under "desert conditions".
Coincidence?

GUANGZHOU,
Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Chinese marines will be deployed in the
next few days to a training base in northwest China's Xinjiang to begin
their first military exercise of 2016.

As the Chinese military
expands its training sites and conditions, the Xinjiang base gives
troops a real combat situation under desert conditions.

Previous
drills were conducted at a training base in north China's Inner
Mongolia, cold regions in northeast China, and in highland jungles.

The
drill will improve troops' fighting abilities "in a wider area, a
larger space and in a more complicated environment," said a military
source.

The soldiers will be transported via a 5,900-kilometer
route from southern province of Guangdong to Xinjiang by train, air or
truck. Their mobilization, desert combat tactics and coordination will
be tested, and they will also carry out a combat exercise with an
infantry division of the Lanzhou Military Area Command.

Photos from last year's Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) drill

Sunday, December 27, 2015

New Law Allows PLA to Undertake Counterterror Missions Overseas

China's new counter-terrorism law has made it legal for the People's
Liberation Army (PLA) to participate in counterterror missions overseas.
The PLA and the country's armed police forces may carry out such
operations with the approval from the Central Military Commission, says
the law adopted by top legislature on Sunday.
Public security and national security authorities may also send
personnel overseas for counter-terrorism missions, with the approval
from the State Council and agreements from concerned countries.
The law also stipulates that related departments, authorized by the
State Council, may collaborate with overseas governments and
international organizations in holding policy dialogues, communicating
on intelligence information, enforcing the law and regulating
international capitals.The new law comes at a delicate time for China and for the world at
large - terror attacks in Paris, the bombing of a Russian passenger jet
over Egypt, and the brutal killings of hostages committed by the
notorious Islamic State (IS) extremist group are alerting the world
about an ever-growing threat of terrorism.It will provide legal support to the country's counter-terrorism
activities as well as collaboration with the international society, said
An Weixing, an official with the public security ministry, at Sunday's
press conference.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

PLA "Thunder Run"

In a scene that reminisces the US Army Third Infantry Division's drive
to Baghdad in April 2003, a mechanized brigade, 20th Group Army, Jinan
Military Region conducts its own "Thunder Run" to test its armor thrust
in a MOUT. It is a good attempt. However, it is somewhat difficult
to imagine any "island" city has this type of wide open boulevard or the
Type92/WZ551 IFV would stand as well against RPGs as the US M2.

Another
way to look at it -- being the PLA has its perks -- it can conduct this
type of large scale MOUT exercise without worrying about lawsuits.